H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

3 SPs on hit list; security beefed up
Hamirpur, June 7
Three senior police officers of Himachal Pradesh, who had worked or are still working at Una, are on the hit list of the criminals. They are: Mr Dharam Pal Sharma and Mr Abhishek Trivedi, both former SPs of Una, and Mrs Satwant Kaur Trivedi, the present SP of Una.

Polling for tribal seats today
Shimla, June 7
All arrangements have been made for smooth conduct of election in the three tribal Assembly segment tomorrow. In all 1,18,282 voters of Bharmaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur will exercise franchise to decide the fate of 17candidates including Dr R.L. Markandey, a former minister.

Steps to overcome water 
crisis reviewed
Shimla, June 7
Ms Harinder Hira, Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Public Health, said yesterday that effective steps were being taken to mitigate the drought-like conditions prevailing in the state so that people did not suffer due to water shortage.

IIAS plea to Centre on shifting issue
Shimla, June 7
The governing body of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study has urged the centre to take appropriate administrative and legal measures to save the institute from being uprooted from its present location at in the Viceregal Lodge.

Case against Mattewal withdrawn
Shimla, June 7
The Special Judge (Forests) Shimla, Mr M.D. Sharma, today accepted the application of the public prosecutor for consent for withdrawal from prosecution against senior lawyer H.S. Mattewal.

PWD to set up barriers on Barog bypass
Kumarhatti, June 7
The Public Works Department (Building and Road) has decided to close the 13.79-km Barog bypass, which is a realignment of the Kalka-Shimla National Highway No 22, linking this town to Saproon in Solan, so that barriers can be set up on its both ends, sources in the department said here today.

Chamera oustees’ agitation ends
Chamba, June 7
A three-week-old agitation launched by members of the ousted families of Chamera hydroelectric project in front of the office of the General Manager of the project in support of their demand of releasing the financial package approved by the Government of India for them ended here today peacefully.

Three drowned
Una, June 7
Three teenagers of a marriage party were drawned to death today at Benra village near Dhamdari, 15 km from here.

Scooterist killed in mishap
Nurpur, June 7
A truck (AP-25-T-5200) ran over a scooter at Bindravan near here today killing its driver Rajiv Kumar (25) of Nagni village on the spot.

63 health centres, not one bandage roll Nurpur, June 7 The health sub-centres of Nurpur Block Medical Office at Gangath have been crying for attention and not even a bandage roll is available there, thanks to the Health and Family Welfare Department.

Rabid dog attacks children
Dharamsala, June 7
A rabid dog who attacked some children and also bit many animals has created panic in villages falling under Bhattu Samula panchayat of the district. Villagers allege that despite complaints, no action has been taken by the administration to ensure that there is no spread of the disease.

Timber-loaded van seized, 1 held
Mandi, June 7
One person was arrested and 45 small sleepers of contraband deodar timber of six feet size were seized by the police last night at a naka set up near Thalaut on the border of Mandi and Kulu districts, about 35 km from here.

HIGH COURT
Order on parking set aside
Shimla, June 7
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has set aside the orders of the District Magistrate, Mandi, where by he had granted permission for parking of vehicles in private land without the consent of land owner.

Notice to PWD on failure to build road
Shimla, June 7
The High Court has issued notices to the secretary (PWD), the Engineer-in-Chief (PWD) and the Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, on a complaint by villagers of six panchayats of Chamba, alleging that the department had not constructed a road from Tisa to Goyya-Gotha though a money for the same had been allocated to it.

• Road to Kunzam pass reopened

• Bali for security in HRTC buses

• Threat to forests

3 SPs on hit list; security beefed up
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, June 7
Three senior police officers of Himachal Pradesh, who had worked or are still working at Una, are on the hit list of the criminals. They are: Mr Dharam Pal Sharma and Mr Abhishek Trivedi, both former SPs of Una, and Mrs Satwant Kaur Trivedi, the present SP of Una. Security has been provided at the houses all three police officers, at present working at Pandoh, Hamirpur and Una, respectively. Earlier they were without any security cover at their houses as the government had decided to not provide securitymen to all police officers working in various districts of the state.

Sources said this evening that these police officers had been warned about possible assaults on their lives. This was revealed during the interrogation of Amrish Rana, one of the persons facing trial in several murder cases in Una.

The interrogation took place on New Delhi recently from where the police had arrested Rana. He was in the Una jail during the tenure of these police officers and wanted to teach them a lesson for his arrest.

Mr Trivedi, SP, Hamirpur, confirmed having got the information regarding a threat to his life by the Rana gang. Interestingly, Una SP Satwant Kaur is his wife and she too has received a threat from criminals. The sources said the state government had decided to provide security to these officers in view of their active participation in operation against militants and hardcore criminals.

Polling for tribal seats today
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 7
All arrangements have been made for smooth conduct of election in the three tribal Assembly segment tomorrow.

In all 1,18,282 voters of Bharmaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur will exercise franchise to decide the fate of 17candidates including Dr R.L. Markandey, a former minister. The maximum number of eight candidates are in fray from Lahaul-Spiti followed by five in Bharmaur and four in Kinnuar. The Congress, the BJP and the Himachal Vikas Congress are contesting all seats.

As many as 1500 employees, including 800 police personnels and home guard jawans are deployed on election duty. In all 298 polling stations have been set up located at an altitude of 14,500 feet the polling station at Hikkim in the Spiti valley is the highest.

As many as 57 polling stations have been declared sensitive and another 40 hypersensitive. There are 14 remote polling stations, which were at a distance of more than 10 km from the road-head. The polling parties for these stations left two days ago.

The three constituencies have been decided into 50 sectors. A magistrate and a sector officer has been deployed in each of them. For prompt communication a network comprising 209 wireless sets has been put in place separate control rooms have been set up, including five at the district level and eight at the subdivisional headquarters to monitor the movement of polling parties.

Electronic voting machines (EVM’s) will be used for polling for the first time in the tribal areas. The EVM’s will be kept at five centres under tight security and the counting votes will take place on June 11 at Rekong Peo, Killar, Bharmaur, Keylong and Kaza.

There are 68 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. Election to 65 seats was held in February. The election to three snow-bound tribal seat was fixed for June 8 the Congress secured a clear majority by winning 40 seats as against 16 secured by the BJP. 

Steps to overcome water crisis reviewed
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 7
Ms Harinder Hira, Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Public Health, said yesterday that effective steps were being taken to mitigate the drought-like conditions prevailing in the state so that people did not suffer due to water shortage.

Reviewing the situation at a meeting of senior officers here, she said she was in touch with the Deputy Commissioners and senior officers of the department and monitoring the situation.

She said out of 7,142 rural drinking water supply schemes in the state, 1411 had been affected, which accounted for 19.76 per cent of the total water supply schemes. She said out of 51,70,877 people covered under these schemes, 5,43,308 had been affected (about 10 per cent of the total population).

She said to ensure that water was made available to the people, the department in collaboration with the district administrations, had deployed 352 water tankers in the worst-affected areas. Besides, 203 hand pumps had been installed in scarcity areas and 114 hand pumps repaired.

She said field officers had been asked to review and monitor the situation daily and send reports.

The Principal Secretary said after going through news items in a section of the press regarding water shortage, particularly in Pragpur, Dehra, Bhoranj, Bilaspur, Ghumarwin, Hamirpur and Dharamsala, the department had initiated certain steps.

IIAS plea to Centre on shifting issue
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 7
The governing body of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study has urged the centre to take appropriate administrative and legal measures to save the institute from being uprooted from its present location at in the Viceregal Lodge.

The body which met here yesterday under the chairmanship of Dr G.C. Pande, its president, to discuss the implications of the recent Supreme Court order directing the government to shift the institute by December 31,2003 so that the heritage building could be handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India for maintenance, passed a resolution urging the government to take all possible steps to ensure its continuation in the present premises.

Even otherwise it is not feasible to shift the institute which is spread over an area of about 100 acres. At least Rs 125 crore will be required to build a new complex over an area of 50 acres. Finding suitable land and arranging funds will be a problem.

Dr Pande is worried over the future of the institute as dislocation from the present premises where it had struck roots and grown over past 40 years would mean certain death for it. It was the very ambience of the complex, which was ideal for scholarly contemplation that had impelled Dr Radhakrishnan to set up a centre of higher learning.

He said there could be two alternatives to solve the crisis. The government could either enact a suitable legislation to ensure the continuation of institute in the Viceregal Lodge or amend the Ancient Monuments Act to pave way for soft use of heritage buildings.

Another important point was that the complex was a gift from Dr Radhakrishanan to the institute. It was allotted to the Human Resource Development ministry specifically for housing the institute. Moreover, the articles and memorandum of association of the Indian Advanced Study Institute society also states that the institute would be located at Shimla and in the Rashtrapati Nivas. The fellows and the director of the institute have met Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in this connection during his recent visit to the state and explained him the situation in detail.

Members of the governing body also plan to meet Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, the Minister for Human Resource Development, shortly.

The fellows and employees of the institute also propose to meet the President and the Prime Minister and seek their intervention to save the institute. They have also sent letters to all Members of Parliament seeking their support for the required legislative measures.

Case against Mattewal withdrawn
Tribune News Service and PTI

Shimla, June 7
The Special Judge (Forests) Shimla, Mr M.D. Sharma, today accepted the application of the public prosecutor for consent for withdrawal from prosecution against senior lawyer H.S. Mattewal and layer Sanjeev Sharma in the case entitled the state of Himachal Pradesh versus B.S. Thind and others.

The application was moved under Section 321 of the Cr PC on the directions of the Home Secretary, who had found merit in the representation of Mr Mattewal that he had been engaged by the state government and was not concerned about the source from which the fee had been paid to him.

The public prosecutor made it clear in the application that Mr Mattewal and Mr Sanjeev Sharma had been engaged by the government in the case V.K. Ahluwalia versus the state of HP and others. B.S. Thind, who was also the Managing Director of Agro Packaging India Limited (APIL), a government-owned company, had been made the nodal officer for contacting the lawyers.

The application further said the prosecution had found the case inherently weak and it would be against public interest to initiate criminal proceedings against them.

The accused could not be considered responsible for a lapse of a technical nature committed by others while releasing their payments for professional engagements. It was quite clear that the money paid to them was legally due to them and, even if some excess money had been paid, it could be recovered, the application said.

Mr H.S. Mattewal, former Advocate General of Punjab, has, now, urged the Himachal Pradesh Government to conduct an inquiry agaisnt officials responsible for implicating him in a false case and punish them.

At a press conference after the Special Judge granted his consent to the public prosecutor for withdrawal of prosecution against him, Mr Mattewal said the successive Himachal Pradesh Governments had engaged him in several cases over the past 12 years. He said: “I took up the matter with Mr P.K. Dhumal, the then Chief Minister, when I learned that my name has been included in the challan filed on January 9, in connection with the case against certain officials of the APIL. I also contacted the then Advocate General of the state, Mr Sanjay Karol, to tell him that it was a mistake and there was nothing in the case.”

He said a person guilty of making a false accusation was liable to the same punishment as the accused. In case the government failed to conduct an inquiry against its officials, he would be left with no alternative, but to initiate legal action in the matter.

Mr Mattewal said the Himachal Pradesh Government still owed him over Rs 3 lakh. Mr B.S. Thind, Managing Director of Agro Packaging India Limited, as nodal officer, had made part payment of his fees.

The application for the withdrawal of prosecution was moved after the Congress came to power in the state.

PWD to set up barriers on Barog bypass
Jagmeet Ghuman

Kumarhatti, June 7
The Public Works Department (Building and Road) has decided to close the 13.79-km Barog bypass, which is a realignment of the Kalka-Shimla National Highway No 22, linking this town to Saproon in Solan, so that barriers can be set up on its both ends, sources in the department said here today.

Last week, Mr N.K. Jindal, Superintending Engineer of the department, had visited the bypass and ordered its closure, the sources said. Mr Jindal had expressed concern over a theft case, in which shuttering material of a private contractor lying on the bypass was allegedly stolen, they added.

Earlier, signboards put up by the department, prohibiting the plying of vehicles on the bypass, had failed to yield any results vehicles, including buses, continued to ply on the road.

Meanwhile, the PWD is caught in a catch-22 situation, following the non-settlement of a disputed piece of private land, falling in the way of the bypass. The opening of bypass has been delayed due to this. It had earlier been planned to open the bypass by April.

Deadlock over the issue has put a question mark over the future of the bypass. According to officials in the department, the owner of the land was not ready to agree to the conditions of the department. The owner, on other hand accused the department for surpassing the law and destroying the land without prior settlement. The owner had also got a stay order, thus forcing the department to delay the opening of the bypass. It may be mentioned that the work on the bypass has been completed.

Chamera oustees’ agitation ends
Our Correspondent

Chamba, June 7
A three-week-old agitation launched by members of the ousted families of Chamera hydroelectric project in front of the office of the General Manager of the project in support of their demand of releasing the financial package approved by the Government of India for them ended here today peacefully. The agitation ended following a settlement reached between the Himachal Pradesh Government and the authorities of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) at Shimla this week.

Announcing the decision here today, the District Magistrate, Mr Rahul Anand, said Rs 8.76 crore, to be disbursed amongst 312 affected families of the Chamera project, Stages-I and II, in the district, had been deposited by the NHPC with the state government.

The DM said the NHPC had already approved the financial package for Rs 8.76 crore for 312 affected families of the Chamera project, Stages-I and II, in the district on the recommendations of a high-powered committee constituted by the Himachal Pradesh Government.

Meanwhile, Mr Parminder Singh, General Manager, Chamera project, said the NHPC had accorded this sanction as a goodwill gesture towards the local people and the state government.

He said the high-powered committee of the Himachal Pradesh Government had recommended Rs 3 lakh per family to 192 land oustees of Chamera Stage-I in two instalments and Rs 2.5 lakh per family to 120 land oustees of Chamera Stage-II at Karian village in one instalment and simultaneously the NHPC had agreed to pay this financial package.

He claimed that the oustees of Karian village in Chamera Stage-II were paid Rs 40,000 per bigha at the negotiated rate irrespective of the kind of land acquired by the project. The amount was four times higher than the prevailing land rates at that time under the land acquisition provisions.

Three drowned

Una, June 7
Three teenagers of a marriage party were drawned to death today at Benra village near Dhamdari, 15 km from here.

The victims were identified as Santokh Singh (14), resident of Ajonoli village, Sukhvinder Singh (15), resident of Dangoli village and Makhan Singh (18), resident of Dhakara village under police station Una.

According to ASP Brij Mohan Sharma, the victims went to nearby nallah to take bath. They were trapped in a deep groove filled with water and were drowned to death. PTI

Scooterist killed in mishap
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, June 7
A truck (AP-25-T-5200) ran over a scooter at Bindravan near here today killing its driver Rajiv Kumar (25) of Nagni village on the spot. The pillion rider, Amit Kumar of Bhatolli village, has been referred to Zonal Hospital and Dharamsala with serious injuries.

Irate villagers caught the truck driver, Munian, who was allegedly under the influence of liquor, and thrashed him. The police has registered a case under Section 279, 337 and 304 of the IPC.

63 health centres, not one bandage roll
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, June 7
The health sub-centres of Nurpur Block Medical Office at Gangath have been crying for attention and not even a bandage roll is available there, thanks to the Health and Family Welfare Department.

There are 63 health sub-centres under the Nurpur BMO serving 47 gram panchayats in the Assembly constituency of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan. The sub centres have not been getting the supply of medicine kits for the past over three months. Sources said the kits being supplied to these sub centres by the Health Department contained medicines that were of little use to patients here.

The kits contain eye ointment capsules, paracetamol and antacids in bulk, which usually remain out of use. These kits never contain antibiotics and other analgesic medicines mostly required.

In these centres, the government directions on child births were also being ignored, though women health workers were trained here by the Health and Family Welfare Department for this purpose. The rural people are being denied the labour-room facility. The post of Block Medical Officer has been vacant for the past few months, so, no official was available at the BMO, Gangath for comments.

Rabid dog attacks children
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, June 7
A rabid dog who attacked some children and also bit many animals has created panic in villages falling under Bhattu Samula panchayat of the district. Villagers allege that despite complaints, no action has been taken by the administration to ensure that there is no spread of the disease.

According to pradhan of gram Panchayat Bhattu Samula, a rabid dog first attacked a school going child in Saloh village on June 1 and later on June 2 attacked two children in Bhattu Samula. The rabid dog also injured many cattle and stray dogs. According to panchayat pradhan and villagers, though the matter was brought to the notice of authorities, no action was taken to destroy stray dogs attacked by the dog and also to provide vaccination to the cattle. People feel that if action is not taken, there may be an epidemic.

In the meanwhile, SDM Palampur, K.C. Chaman has directed the veterinary officials to take steps in the matter.

Timber-loaded van seized, 1 held
Our Correspondent

Mandi, June 7
One person was arrested and 45 small sleepers of contraband deodar timber of six feet size were seized by the police last night at a naka set up near Thalaut on the border of Mandi and Kulu districts, about 35 km from here.

The van used in the crime was also impounded. It would be vested in the government after the trial by the authorised officer (DFO) under the Indian Forest Act. The value of the timber is estimated to be over Rs 50,000.

The police has registered a case under Sections of the IPC and Indian Forest Act and the driver of the van, Ajit Singh, a resident of Sector 45-D, Chandigarh, has been taken into custody.

The police said the rear seats of the van had been removed to conceal the timber inside the van. As many as 15 vans involved in timber smuggling have been impounded by the police.

Despite stringent law, timber smuggling has assumed alarming proportions in the region. It is alleged that in most of the cases the TD timber, which the villagers get at a nominal price is sold to the smugglers.

HIGH COURT
Order on parking set aside
Our Legal Correspondent

Shimla, June 7
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has set aside the orders of the District Magistrate, Mandi, where by he had granted permission for parking of vehicles in private land without the consent of land owner.

The petitioner had alleged in his petition that a Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus stand was operating from his land till February 4, 1994. The District Magistrate, Mandi, in February 1994 declared this place as a “stand” and “parking place” for taxis and three-wheelers and because of this order, the HRTC shifted the operation of its buses to Padal.

Petitioner further alleged that District Magistrate, Mandi, had no power to declare a place owned by a private party as a parking place. While setting aside the order of District Magistrate, Mandi, Mr Justice R.L. Khurana, observed that the notification issued without the consent of the land owner was illegal as well as unreasonable.

Notice to PWD on failure to build road
Our Legal Correspondent

Shimla, June 7
The High Court has issued notices to the secretary (PWD), the Engineer-in-Chief (PWD) and the Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, on a complaint by villagers of six panchayats of Chamba, alleging that the department had not constructed a road from Tisa to Goyya-Gotha though a money for the same had been allocated to it.

As per the allegations, the state government had approved budget for the construction of the road in 1967. The road was to be completed in 1972, as per the official record of the PWD.

The complainants alleged that the amount sanctioned for the road had gone into the pockets of the officials concerned, thereby public money in lakhs had been bungled. Money was sanctioned every year for the “upkeep” of the road.

Treating the complaint as public interest litigation, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel directed the state to file a reply within four weeks.

Road to Kunzam pass reopened

Shimla, June 7
The road to Kaza via Kunzam pass situated at the height of 1,4913 feet has been opened to light vehicles today, Pushpendra Rajput, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kaza said today,

This route was closed due to heavy snowfall and glaciers in October last, Mr Rajput said adding it would be opened to heavy vehicles within a week, official sources said. PTI

Bali for security in HRTC buses

Dharamsala, June 7
Himachal Transport Minister G.S. Bali has described the torching an HRTC bus at Jalandhar as “unfortunate”. More than 12 passengers received injuries in the incident.

Mr Bali said it would be his endeavour to ensure that travellers on HRTC buses were provided adequate security. OC

Threat to forests
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, June 7
With the mercury crossing 42°C in several areas of the district and the hill-towns of Dharamsala and Palampur registering temperatures at 35°C, forest officials are having sleepless nights.

According to official sources, more than 500 hectares forest land has been damaged in the recent fires.